Review: GXVE by Gwen Stefani Can't Stop Staring Lengthening and Lifting Mascara

 

If, like me, you've had a challenging week, I applaud you for getting out of bed and actually making an effort to look and feel human today. Between work, work and more work, it's been damn near impossible to get anything else done, but I have also renewed my residency visa, been to the gym attended dance classes, worked on Saturday and today, dealt with a blow of another life loss in my industry, given advice to friends and acquaintances out of hours, and in between all of this, held onto my patience and reined in my temper when dealing with members of the public who haven't put their pets' comfort above their own. All in all, it's easy to say that I've had an emotionally and mentally exhausting week, and I'm very much looking forward to when I can relax in the next couple of days.

 

With that in mind, it may surprise you to read that I still like to take my time with playing with make up and trying out new things. The reason for this is simple - I like to try new beauty products, and I find this process to be very soothing! As a Sephora addict (read: someone who likes to go to Sephora, both in store and online, and look through a whole bunch of different products, and walk out with a bulging bag of goodies), I was excited to hear about GXVE by Gwen Stefani hitting the stands, because I'd heard some great things about the range! 

The Can't Stop Staring Lengthening and Lifting mascara promises to lengthen and lift the lashes, and is meant to have a buildable formula. It comes housed in a glossy metal tube that has a black body and a black and white check pattern on the cap. The wand has thin little bristles clustered together, and it ends with a rounded tip that can be used to reach those hard to get corner lashes, as well as to help separate the teeny little lashes that tend to stick together. 

 

Using the wiggle method, where I start at my lashline, and move it from side to side while sweeping the brush through my lashes, I find that this wand manages to coat my lashes really nicely. Unfortunately, I don't find this mascara to be particularly lifting, nor do I find it to be particularly good at masking my lashes look darker or more voluminous. It does help with the appearance of length, however! 

 

Touted to be waterproof, I thought that this would actually prevent it from smudging on me, but sadly, that's not the case. Instead, since using this, I've noticed that this has resulted in moderate racoon eyes for me throughout the span of the day. Thankfully, it isn't a magnet for fur, which is a bonus at work, but otherwise, this hasn't been successful for me at all. In short, a bit of a disappointment for me, but at least now I know! It retails for $31, and it's currently available at Sephora.